How is it possible for a person to have a change of heart? It takes a miracle, isn't it?
The reading assignment for today is quite long so decided to split it up into two parts--part 1 today and part 2 tomorrow. Here now are the passages for today:
" 1 And now, it came to pass that when king Benjamin had thus spoken to his people, he sent among them, desiring to know of his people if they believed the words which he had spoken unto them.
2 And they all cried with one voice, saying: Yea, we believe all the words which thou hast spoken unto us; and also, we know of their surety and truth, because of the Spirit of the Lord Omnipotent, which has wrought a mighty change in us, or in our hearts, that we have no more disposition to do evil, but to do good continually."
(Mosiah 5: 1-2)
"8 Now the sons of Mosiah were numbered among the aunbelievers; and also one of the sons of Alma was numbered among them, he being called Alma, after his father; nevertheless, he became a very wicked and an bidolatrous man. And he was a man of many words, and did speak much cflattery to the people; therefore he dled many of the people to do after the manner of his einiquities.
9 And he became a great hinderment to the prosperity of the church of God; astealing away the hearts of the people; causing much dissension among the people; giving a chance for the enemy of God to exercise his bpower over them.
10 And now it came to pass that while he was going about to adestroy the church of God, for he did go about secretly with the sons of Mosiah seeking to destroy the church, and to lead astray the people of the Lord, contrary to the commandments of God, or even the king—
11 And as I said unto you, as they were going about arebelling against God, behold, the bangel of the Lord cappeared unto them; and he descended as it were in a dcloud; and he spake as it were with a voice of thunder, which caused the earth to shake upon which they stood;
12 And so great was their astonishment, that they fell to the earth, and understood not the words which he spake unto them.
13 Nevertheless he cried again, saying: Alma, arise and stand forth, for why persecutest thou the church of God? For the Lord hath said: aThis is my church, and I will establish it; and nothing shall boverthrow it, save it is the transgression of my people.
14 And again, the angel said: Behold, the Lord hath aheard the prayers of his people, and also the bprayers of his servant, Alma, who is thy father; for he has cprayed with much faith concerning thee that thou mightest be brought to the dknowledge of the truth; therefore, for this purpose have I come to econvince thee of the power and authority of God, that the fprayers of his servants might be answered according to their faith.
15 And now behold, can ye dispute the power of God? For behold, doth not my voice shake the earth? And can ye not also abehold me before you? And I am sent from God.
16 Now I say unto thee: Go, and remember the captivity of thy fathers in the land of aHelam, and in the land of Nephi; and remember how great things he has done for them; for they were in bbondage, and he has cdelivered them. And now I say unto thee, Alma, go thy way, and seek to destroy the church no more, that their prayers may be answered, and this even if thou wilt of dthyself be ecast off.
17 And now it came to pass that these were the last words which the angel spake unto Alma, and he departed.
18 And now Alma and those that were with him fell again to the earth, for great was their astonishment; for with their own eyes they had beheld an aangel of the Lord; and his voice was as thunder, which bshook the earth; and they knew that there was nothing save the power of God that could shake the earth and cause it to tremble as though it would part asunder.
19 And now the astonishment of Alma was so great that he became adumb, that he could not open his mouth; yea, and he became weak, even that he could not move his hands; therefore he was taken by those that were with him, and carried helpless, even until he was laid before his father.
20 And they rehearsed unto his father all that had happened unto them; and his father rejoiced, for he knew that it was the power of God.
21 And he caused that a multitude should be gathered together that they might witness what the Lord had done for his son, and also for those that were with him.
22 And he caused that the priests should assemble themselves together; and they began to fast, and to pray to the Lord their God that he would open the mouth of Alma, that he might speak, and also that his limbs might receive their strength—that the eyes of the people might be opened to see and know of the goodness and glory of God.
23 And it came to pass after they had fasted and prayed for the space of atwo days and two nights, the limbs of Alma received their strength, and he stood up and began to speak unto them, bidding them to be of good comfort:
24 For, said he, I have repented of my sins, and have been aredeemed of the Lord; behold I am born of the Spirit.
25 And the Lord said unto me: Marvel not that all mankind, yea, men and women, all nations, kindreds, tongues and people, must be aborn again; yea, bborn of God, cchanged from their carnal and dfallen state, to a state of righteousness, being redeemed of God, becoming his esons and daughters;
26 And thus they become new creatures; and unless they do this, they can in anowise inherit the kingdom of God.
27 I say unto you, unless this be the case, they must be cast off; and this I know, because I was like to be cast off.
28 Nevertheless, after awading through much btribulation, repenting nigh unto death, the Lord in mercy hath seen fit to snatch me out of an ceverlasting burning, and I am born of God." (Mosiah 27: 8-28)
And here's the commentary from the "Come, Follow Me" Manual entitled: "Jesus Christ can cleanse me and help perfect me."
It could be said that the Book of Mormon is an account of people who changed because of the Atonement of Jesus Christ. You can read some of these experiences in Mosiah 5:1–2; 27:8–28; Alma 15:3–12; 24:7–19. You might think of other examples to study as well. What do you notice that these experiences have in common? What differences do you notice? What do these experiences teach you about how the Savior can change you?"
The power of God caused the change of hearts in people--this is what I noticed that is common in the two experiences mentioned in the passages I shared in this post. Here are the differences: In the first one, the people of King Benjamin immediately believed the words spoken to them by the prophet (who was also their king) and then they experienced a change of heart right away. In the second example, Alma, the younger was compelled to believe--what he went through is quite more dramatic, similar to what Paul (in the New Testament) experienced. And from being rebellious and seeking to destroy the church of God, he transformed--totally turned around, 180 degrees, into being the best version that he could be--a missionary and a prophet of the Lord.
These experiences taught me that "a change of heart" is a miracle. And this miracle is possible with the power of God. Just as prayer played a big role in Alma's change of heart, whenever we need a change of heart, whether ourselves or others around us, we can turn to the Lord in prayer and the miracle we're longing for will come.
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